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Preview: U20 Championship, Finals

UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP SPOTLIGHT: The two most successful teams in Under-20 Championships history, New Zealand and England will contest the 2017 Championship final on Sunday, June 18.

Since the start of the tournament in 2008, the two sides have won eight titles between them, five for New Zealand and three for England.

Both teams are unbeaten thus far, which provide a platform for an enthralling final.

Defending champions England won all their pool matches and reached their fifth successive final after a titanic battle with the Junior Springboks in the first semifinal, one only settled when captain Zach Mercer went over for his second try with four minutes to go to secure his side a 24-22 victory.

New Zealand, the five-time champions who have won all of their previous meetings with England in the title decider, survived France's second-half comeback with a 39-26 victory.

England U20 head coach Ian Vass praised his side's achievements and stated that their rough road to the final has prepared the side well for the inform New Zealand team.

"We have had a tougher route to the final than New Zealand however tight games bring the best out of the players and the team, and we have shown how to come out on top," said Vass.

"Throughout the competition we haven’t put too much pressure on winning and it has been learning as a group.

"Each team we play has different strengths and the team we have picked will give us the best opportunity of winning. It would be fantastic achievement for the players to lift the trophy on Sunday and they are all excited to get on the field," he added.

In the third-place play-off, South Africa will take on France. The two sides played to a 23-all draw in their opening fixture of the round robin phase. The hero of that match, Curwin Bosch misses the third-place fixture due to an ankle injury. Manie Libbok dons the number 10 jumper, while Jeanluc Cilliers starts at fullback.

Zain Davids returns and will start in the loose trio with Junior Bok captain Ernst van Rhyn and No 8 Juarno Augustus after serving his suspension.

The Junior Springboks head coach Chean Roux is expecting a physical onslaught from France, who finished as the runners-up in the U20 Six Nations competition earlier this season, and said the first quarter would be vital.

"I think they are going to try to slow the game down and they will want to come hard at us in the scrums and lineouts," said Roux.

"Knowing the French, the first 20 minutes are going to be crucial as that is where the foundation will be laid. So we have to come out guns blazing and apply pressure on them as quickly as possible,"

Scotland will face Australia for fifth-place before Wales meet Italy in the seventh-place play-off.

Samoa tackle Argentina in the 11th place play-off at Avchala Stadium with the loser relegated to the U20 Trophy in 2018.

FINAL FIXTURES:(Sunday, June 18 - all games in Tbilisi. Kick-off is local time: GMT plus four hours)

Scotland U20s emulate senior team

WORLD U-20 CHAMPIONSHIPS REPORT: Scotland U20s emulated their senior counterparts by getting the better of Australia 24-17 to finish the World U-20 Championship in fifth place.

Australia led the match at the half-time break but some missed opportunities and handling errors allowed Scotland to break the game open and come from behind to claim the victory.

A controversial late try by Scotland proved to be the decisive moment when scores were level at 17-17, allowing Charlie Shiel to dive under the posts and break Australian hearts.

The latest Melbourne Rebels signing, Harrison Goddard was one of Australia's standouts with the young scrumhalf scoring all of Australia's 17 points.

"Scotland played extremely well, their field position was outstanding, whereas ours was poor, they kicked for corners and they did really well.

"Our game management and basic execution was what let us down. The boys tackled their hearts out around the breakdown. We counter rucked a lot and turned the ball over. It was just what we did with the ball when we got it.

"We had some passes that guys threw behind others, dropped ball and it alleviated any pressure unfortunately. Harrison [Goddard] is a great player, he's one guy that has played a bit more and he shows that.

"He has got a good head on his shoulders and knows what to do. He was one of the best guys out there today," Australia U-20 head coach Simon Cron said.

The first twenty minutes of the match was a scoreless battle between the two sides, as both countries fought hard to break each other's defence.

Goddard was huge for the Australian side in the opening exchanges, creating space and turning the defence around with some well-placed kicks behind. The young scrumhalf, was the first to cross the try-line for Australia as well after some patience from the young men in gold, broke down the Scottish defence.

Scotland put themselves within striking range on the scoreboard with a late penalty by Connor Eastgate to narrow the gap to 10-3 where the score remained at the break.

Scotland shot out of the blocks in the second half and were the first to score when Robbie Nairn received a perfectly timed pass from fullback Blair Kinghorn to level the scores at 10-10.

Australia was forced to defend with one less player when Cody Walker went down injured and the Scots took full advantage with Charlie Shiel crossing the line to give Scotland the 17-10 lead.

The excellent form of Goddard once again shone through when he snatched a loose ball out of the air from a Scottish pass to run 40-metres to score. Converting his own try, Goddard brought the scores level at 17-17.

A handling error by the Australian backs with less than five minutes to go, placed huge pressure on the Aussie defence, as Scotland hammered their territorial advantage.

A controversial late try where it appeared Australian flank Angus Scott-Young was held back from making a try saving tackle, allowed Scotland to steal a famous victory at the Championship with Charlie Shiel diving over to much jubilation from the Scottish fans.